Homework… What is it good for? Absolutely Something!

Posted on August 30, 2011 by Lana

Here at SAS we have researched, thought and talked hard to come up with our new homework policy. We do not want your child to be overburdened with unnecessary ‘busy work’ (like the image below) when they could be doing more productive things with their time like enjoying their families, reading something they enjoy or playing outside with their friends. There IS a place for homework but it is not to stress out your child or keep them occupied, it is to challenge, enrich, re-enforce, and teach independent learning habits (my personal favorite).

WE BELIEVE THE PURPOSE OF HOMEWORK IS TO…
1. Reinforce Skills And Concepts
2. Extend Educational Opportunities Beyond The Walls Of The Classroom
3. Develop Independent Learning Habits

HOMEWORK PHILOSOPHY
We Believe That Homework Is Effective When It Serves As A Critical Component To The Continued Learning Of A Child

1. Based On Researched Best Practices Students Will Be Assigned A Maximum Of Ten Minutes Of Homework Per Grade Level Per Night, Monday Through Thursday. (For example 10 X 4 = 40 Min. Max of Homework for Gr. 4) Independent Reading And Instrument Practice Is Not Included In This Formula.

2. Total Minutes Of Homework Time For Any Grade Level Should Be Proportioned So That 50% Of The Time Is Dedicated To Regular Classroom Homework And 50% Of The Time Is Dedicated To Language Learning Block Homework.

I have talked about our Policy and the reasoning behind it at length with the students. I look forward to sharing our policy with you all at our open house next Wednesday night.

September 7, 2011

Pre-K and K & 1^st Grade Presentations 5:00-6:00

Second & Third Grade Presentations 6:00-7:00

Fourth and Fifth Grade Presentations 7:00-8:00

Presentations: All grade level presentations will begin in the Elementary School library for specialist teacher introductions; introductions will be followed by grade level curriculum presentations and then end with time for families to explore their child’s classroom and talk with teachers.

Dinner & Transportation: The Food Court will be open from 5:00-7:00 for parents to purchase a light dinner or snack. Your attendance is supported through optional transportation from Starbucks in Jingqiao. Buses will depart at 4:15 and return to Starbucks at 8:15. Secretaries will be available to call taxis for families as well.

What to Expect: Elementary teachers are looking forward to sharing with you the details of how your children spend their day at SAS, the curriculum that is delivered as well as an opportunity to explore the classroom and instructional materials. Your attendance is very important. Presentations are intended for an adult audience, due to time and space restraints, we kindly request that your children enjoy an evening at home.

We all look forward to personally welcoming you to our wonderful school.

You are what you eat!

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Lana

Our students have begun their first science unit for the year; the unit is on Nutrition. We have been discussing the importance of making healthy choices in the cafeteria as this is the first year the students have had more freedom during their lunch recess. If we see students choosing gatorade, pizza and garlic bread day after day, we may suggest to them that it would be good to have greater balance with their meal rather than regularly indulging in so many empty calories. Today we watched a number of video presentations discussing the importance of knowing what it is you are putting into your body. We do not want any of our students to think they need to be on any sort of diet; rather we’d like to encourage them to take more ownership of their own daily diet, just like we encourage them in 5th grade to invest more in all of their educational options.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has come out with a new design of the healthy diet pyramid I grew up with as a child. I like that this one is shaped like a plate and their website does have a great deal of useful information we will be using during our unit. As we work through the unit, we will be encouraging the students to think about what they eat and any changes they could make to improve on their health, whether it be in regard to exercise, getting more sleep, eating more greens or eating less empty calories. Our final project for the unit is called the Healthy Balanced Meal Project and all students should have come home with a paper copy of this project last Thursday. I am excited to see what the students come up with and have only ever heard positive feedback with this project during the 5 years it has been run in 5th grade.

In other news, in case your son or daughter has not mentioned it to you, we are celebrating one hundred years of Shanghai American School next month with a Founder’s Day Celebration on Friday September 16th.

Join us as we celebrate our SAS history and kick-off our year long Centennial Celebration. There will be a school wide event, including an all school parade. We are asking that all students, teachers (and any parents that want to participate) get in the spirit and dress up in early 1900s clothing and walk in the parade! There will be special guests, a performance of our school song, and much more. Everyone is welcome to join the fun. For more information contact: cindy.easton@saschina.org

If you would like more information on the history of the school,see this document. SAS Founders’ Day Background Info

I look forward to discussing our Nutrition Project and Our Founder’s Day Celebrations with you more when I meet you at our Open House Evening in the 5th grade project area on Wednesday September 7th at 7 pm.

Now a treat for those who are still reading…
Here is your child reciting the wonderful Robert Frost Poem, “The Road Not Taken” in the first of our Poetry Friday Performances.

http://portal.saschina.org/video/flv_player/Main.swf

Are you still with us??? If so, well done 5KP on your amazing Personality Box Presentations. I really enjoyed learning more about you and even though I am obviously ‘craft phobic’ I know you had a lot of fun with all that glitter!

http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=104087

I’m watching you!

Posted on August 24, 2011 by Lana

Good Morning 5KP. Please help a classmate if they have not found this page yet or aren’t sure what to do.

By now, Mr Power has set you up with your own blog right? Hooray for you, I am excited about the journey you are about to begin.

This morning I would like you to work on creating a great name for your blog, and then changing the heading of your own blog. I’d love you to add a link in a post on your blog, to my blog. Do you know how to do that? Yoon Jin and Josh may be your best help there as they already had a blog last year, find out who else can help you. Your link should look highlighted like the two in the previous sentence.

I’d like you to write a post about any of the ideas below and remember, each good post should have:

*a minimum of 100 words/one big paragraph/ten sentences

*a catchy title that gives readers and idea of what the post is about

*a link and an image (remember to ask others for help, you are only just beginning so don’t get frustrated, in time you will be blogging like a champion)

Posts today could be on:

*Your Personality Box

*School so far

*What you did over Summer

*Your hopes and dreams for 5th grade

Good Luck 5KP, remember, be super wonderful for Mr. Hall and you can finish this post for homework tonight if you have time.

PS There is fruit and vegetables in the fridge, please hand out at recess. Over and Out!

What’s in the box?

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Lana

Personality Boxes

As the students know, I love to reuse materials, so when I stumbled across over 100 empty mac laptop boxes last week, all in mint condition, with seven different elements that could be reused, my mind started imagining what I could do with them.

Today I gave out an empty box to each student to use for an in-class project called ‘My Personality Box’. The students will have four periods during next week to complete the assignment that we will then set up on display next Friday in a ‘Personality Museum’.

The only limit to the project is your child’s imagination. They can use any school resources they can think of that I can obtain, as well as many things from home with your permission. I do not want this to be a project where children come home saying “I need to go the fabric market so I can buy material to cover my box in purple velvet and sequins” or “Mrs. Power said you HAVE to help me with my box, I need every photo ever taken with me on a horse ” This is supposed to be a fun-filled exploratory project that brings the box alive with the personality of your child. As a parent myself of a 5^th grader, and now Pre-K student, I understand that family time is quality time, and I don’t want it to be stressful for you or your child. You can help them with ideas, suggestions, encouragement and collecting things from home over the next three or four days IF they need it, but at 5^th grade, we are trying to teach independence so see how much help from you they NEED before you volunteer it.

Some of the themes and ideas we discussed in class included turning their box into a garden, a restaurant, a sports stadium, filling it with poetry, turning it into a beach scape, cutting out magazine pictures or words to cover it, shaping the box into some sort of icon-eg. Pearl Tower, Sydney Harbour Bridge, Statue of Liberty.

The main thing is for the box to reflect your child’s personality. Are they loud, bossy, sporty, arty, techy, musical quiet, poetic? What do they enjoy in their spare time? Will their box be filled with recipes, medals, photos, poetry, animals, candy, treasures or lego? I want the box to ooze personality, every single part of the box needs to represent who your child is, where they’ve come from and maybe even where they are going.

Enjoy the journey

Today we also had our first Poetry Friday and the children each have four lines to memorize from Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” one of my favourite all time poems. Ask them what the poem means to them; I’d love to hear if it also means something to you. Comments and e mails always welcome; especially about poetry.

Enjoy your weekend.

New Beginnings

Posted on August 17, 2011 by Lana

It was great to meet you today Michelle, Annette, Erika, Josh, Sheung Yee, Bevan, Mia, Taeyun, Yoon Jin, Alex, Jose, Joon Soo, Eric, Aavia, Max and Alex Z and we are looking forward to Claire joining us on Monday when she returns from the UK. The class gelled nicely together with eight returning students and eight new members who will be right at home very shortly thanks to the warm welcome they received from their new classmates.

Parents, tonight you will receive a paper copy of the class schedule with a list of students names on the back, I have also listed this blog address as well as my e mail address so keep that information someplace handy.

Your child’s homework for tonight is minimal, but important. They need to remember to:

*bring their swimsuit, swim cap (optional) and googles (no towel required) see this post for details

*write down the best parent e mail to be contacted on in their agenda, so that they have it here for themselves and for me to make a mailing list to use throughout the year

*leave a comment on this blog telling me how their first day was, including any questions they might have or worries/joys to share about their feelings regarding fifth grade

It was a big day for us here establishing many new routines and your child will no doubt be tired tonight, indeed for the next couple of weeks, but as they develop a routine things will become easier. For now, sleep is the focus so try and get some early nights students, you need your rest!

It has also been a big day for me with my youngest daughter Mimi starting Pre K 4 and my oldest daughter Hannah joining 5th grade. Hannah started here in Pre K 4 (I even wore the same skirt that day as I did today) so it is a little like history repeating itself.

Do you want to be on the SAS Swim Team?

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Lana

Elementary School (Grades 2-5) Swim Team Try-outs

Swimming Team try-outs for elementary students in Grade 2, 3, 4 and 5 will be held on Monday, August 22nd and Tuesday, August 23rd at 3:15pm sharp. Swimmers need to attend both days because we will not finish testing out the students in one day. Elementary swimmers who were on the team last year do not need to try out.

All students should be at the Aquatic Center with their bathing suits, caps, goggles and towels ready to compete at 3:15pm. Parents are more than welcome to watch their children from the Viewing Gallery. No parents are allowed on the pool deck or in the locker rooms. As we are trying to make the swimmers responsible competitors, please support us with these requests.

Swimmers trying out must swim all four strokes proficiently. This is not a learn to swim program but a competitive program. If your child does make the team, they are expected to train twice a week all year long, attend all Shanghai local meets as well as one international meet.

We will be finished by 4:15pm so students can take the 4:30pm bus home.
Parents, please make sure that your children know which bus to take home after the tryouts (contact YAEP if you are unsure). Also, please notify your teacher if your child will be going to the Aquatic Center after school on those two days.

And finally, though swimming is a lifelong skill and for everyone, competitive swimming is not. Make sure your child is interested in trying out for the team and not something you as a parent want. They might find it discouraging if they do not make the team. Talk to them to avoid disappointment.

Parents, please do not contact your classroom teacher for any swim team try out information. Do contact me personally (George Carpouzis, Aquatics Director) at
X3572 or email me at:
george.carpouzis@saschina.org

Read more about the start of our school year and our swim program here

Hello there 5KP

Posted on August 10, 2011 by Lana

Hi 5KP students and parents

I am excited to welcome you to the 2011-2012 school year and hope that you come to class well rested after a relaxing and happy Summer Vacation. It is important to get lots of rest in these first few weeks as you will be taking in lots of new information, meeting many people and getting your brain into gear for a year of learning.

I spent mine in Australia, which was NOT really a Summer holiday as it was winter down there! For the first two weeks, my daughters Hannah, Mimi and I went to the north/west of Australia to Ningaloo Reef which is a world heritage area and very beautiful. Hannah and I had a wonderful time swimming with whale sharks, seeing turtles, humpback whales on their migration path, and many different types of fish and coral.

We then flew to Melbourne to be reunited with Mr Power, your future tech teacher, and my husband. It was very very very cold in that part of the country and we spent a lot of time complaining about our ‘summer’ holiday but it is where most of our family live so it was great to catch up with them and also to visit our friends there. Our ‘home-town’ is Ballarat, Victoria and we spent most of the school holidays (two weeks) there looking at kangaroos, koalas, kookaburras and wild birds, enjoying all the good things an Aussie Winter has to offer.

Our final two weeks were spent in warmer weather on the Great Barrier Reef in Port Douglas, Queensland with another family that we love very much. We swam in the pool and at the beach and again Hannah had the opportunity to swim on the Reef, this time with her Dad. After a week there, we flew south to the Gold Coast of Australia and enjoyed a fast paced day at Seaworld which was a great way to end out time ‘Down Under’.

Now we are back home in Shanghai, starting our 7th year as teachers here. Mimi is starting Pre-K and Hannah will be just down the hall somewhere in 5th grade so it should be a very exciting year for the Power Family!

5KP will be starting their swimming unit on Thursday 18th of August during their P.E. lessons. The program will end on Monday, Aug. 29th. This is a great opportunity for students to improve their swimming and water safety skills, while having a safe and enjoyable experience. Please read the following guidelines below so as to make sure you are ready to begin the swimming program:

BATHING SUITS:

Girls should wear a one-piece bathing suit. Boys may wear Speedos, trunks or knee length Lycra suits; however, they should not wear bathing suits that are below their knees. Please make sure the condition of your suit is suitable. T-Shirts are not allowed. To ensure that the children do not forget their bathing suits, all students can leave their suits hanging in a designated place at the pool. When they arrive for their next lesson, the suits will be there, dry and waiting for them. Please clearly write your name on your bathing suit.

GOGGLES & CAPS:
Some students prefer to swim with goggles and some not. You can make do with basic, inexpensive goggles that are comfortable. Swimming Caps should be worn by all students with long hair as it makes swimming comfortable and is much more practical. At the very least, long hair should be tied back. Again, the students will leave their goggles here at the pool until the swimming unit is complete. Please clearly write your name on the cap and goggles.

TOWELS:
We are very fortunate on having clean towels for all our students. Students do not need to bring their towels. Towels are provided!

SICKNESS:
It is our policy in the PE department that if a child is attending school, then they must participate in physical activity. If you are well enough to be at school, then you are expected to participate in swimming.

This is a great opportunity for your child to receive professional and high quality instruction from a qualified and experienced aquatic staff, who will endeavor to provide a safe and friendly learning environment. Swimming is a life skill!!

For inquiries regarding this unit, feel free to contact the Aquatic Director, George Carpouzis, or your PE Teacher, Scott Hossack.

George Carpouzis
Tel: x3572
Email: george.carpouzis@saschina.org

My e mail address is kimbra.power@saschina.org if you have any questions parents. I look forward to meeting many of you at our Orientation Day next Tuesday and our Open House early next month.

the barefoot librarian

Kimbra Power

Monthly Archives: August 2011